Tiny Topsy was one of those marvellous big-voiced women of the mid to
late 50s, in the vocal style of Big Maybelle, LaVern Baker and Big Mama Thornton, who possessed a set of lungs to match her 250 pound physique. She was
born May 22, 1930 in Chicago and began performing with Al Smith’s band in
Chicago in 1945. This group split in 1952, with Smith becoming an in-house band
leader for the likes of Chance, Parrot and Vee-Jay, but without Tiny's
involvement.

Tiny's first recording session for Federal Records was held in Cincinnati on July 9, 1957
and resulted in the bouncy "Aw! Shucks Baby", with a great tenor solo
by Ray Felder. Backing group were The Charms (with no mention on the label). It
was a screamer equal of LaVern Baker. The flip was a cover of “Miss You So”, a
Top 10 R&B hit for Lillian Offitt. A third
track from this session, "A Woman's Intuition", remained unissued
until 1988.

On her next single “Come On, Come On, Come On” b/w “Ring Around My
Finger” she was backed by The Charms again, and this time The Charms got label
credit. Her following single was “You Shocked Me” b/w “Waterproof Eyes. “Come
On, Come On, Come On” and “You Shocked Me” were kick ass rockers in the vein of
Etta James.

Tiny Topsy's fourth Federal single “Western Rock 'N Roll” b/w “Cha Cha
Sue” is a very interesting one. “Western Rock 'n' Roll” incorporates snippets
of then-current hits (“Lollipop”, “At The Hop”, “Get A Job”, “Short Shorts”).
It opens with gunshots and was released before “Western Movies” by The Olympics. So it looks like the sound effects on “Western Movies” were inspired
by “Western Rock 'n' Roll” instead of the other way round.

Tiny Topsy certainly was a trendsetter, because her next single (and her
last one for Federal) was the original of what has become a classic : “Just A
Little Bit”, paired with “Everybody Needs Some Loving”. Rosco Gordon had a # 2 R&B hit with his version of
“Just A Little Bit” in 1960 and the song has been covered by countless people,
including Jerry Lee Lewis “Southern Roots” album. After leaving Federal Tiny
Topsy had only one further single released, "Working On Me Baby",
coupled with “How You Changed” (Argo 5383). An alternate take of “Aw! Shucks
Baby” with “Everybody Needs Some Loving “on the flipside was released by King Records in 1963.

Jet, September 3, 1964

Jet, September 10,1964

Although Tiny Topsy never became a big name star and frequent occupier
of the charts, her records were always great She died on August 16, 1964 at the very young
age of 34 of brain hemorrhage in Chicago.